United States of America, Ex Rel. and Nurdeen Mustafa v. Samir Najjar and Lee Najjar

November 21, 2011

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, EX REL. AND NURDEEN MUSTAFA , PLAINTIFFS,v.SAMIR NAJJAR AND LEE NAJJAR, DEFENDANTS.

ORDER

This matter comes before the Court on the Motion to Unseal (Doc. 70) filed by the United States of America (the "Government"), the response in opposition (Doc. 77) filed by Defendant Lee Najjar, and the Motion For Joinder (Doc. 77) filed by Defendant Samir Najjar.

The Government filed a complaint (S-21) and an application for prejudgment remedies (S-22) under seal on October 5, 2011 because these documents included numerous instances of personal information such as Social Security numbers and home addresses. (Doc. 18 at 2). The Government sought an agreement with the Defendants on sealing and redaction procedures, but the parties have not reached such an agreement. Accordingly, the Government seeks to have the documents unsealed, with the exception of certain exhibits that contain this personal information.

The Defendants argue that the Government's claim lacks merit and that unsealing these documents will result in embarrassment for the Defendants. Even taking these assertions as true, they are not enough to overcome the public's right of access to judicial records.

In consideration of the foregoing, it is hereby

ORDERED that the Motion for Joinder (Doc. 77) is GRANTED. And it is further ORDERED that the Motion to Unseal (Doc. 70) is GRANTED. The Clerk is directed to UNSEAL the complaint (S-21) and application for prejudgment remedies (S-22), with the exception of the following exhibits attached to the application: 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 48, 50, 52, 53, 54, and 56. Per the Government's request (Doc. 70 at 7), the parties will be permitted to refer to the contents of the sealed documents as long as the information protected by Fed.R.Civ.P. 5.2 is not publicly disclosed. In addition, the Government may seek leave to file redacted versions of some or all of these sealed exhibits so as to comply with Fed.R.Civ.P. 5.2(a).

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